Mumtaz Bollywood Actress

Mumtaz (born 31 July 1947, Bombay) is an actress of Hindi Cinema, who appeared in a number of Hindi movies. Started to act at the age of twelve, she made her debut in 1961 with film Stree and then she acted in many low-budget movies, then known as B-grade movies opposite Dara Singh in 16 action movies of which 10 were successful, like Boxer, Herculus, Samson, etc. In A-grade movies, she caught attention with 1965 hit Mere Sanam in which she played the role of a vamp, and after this she appeared in a number of A-grade movies in supporting role, like Patthar Ke Sanam, Ram Aur Shyam, Brahmchari. But it was 1969 hit movie Do Raaste which made her an overnight star actress. It was one of her first A-grade movies as the heroine and her first movie with actor Rajesh Khanna, with whom she made a successful pairing. The 1970s proved to be an era which established Mumtaz as one of the most successful actress of Hindi Cinema and also she was widely recoganised as the most beautiful and the best actress of Hindi Cinema. She appeared in a number of commercially and critically successful movies like Sachaa Jhutha (1970), Khilona (1970), Tere Mere Sapne (1971), Apna Desh (1972), Chor Machaye Shor (1973), Roti (1974), Prem Kahani (1975). At the peak of her career, she married a business tycoon, Mayur Madhvani, and took a break from movies.

In her short career, she was awarded with one Filmfare Award for Best Actress, out of three nominations, and one BFJA Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Career:

She started as an extra in films in the early 1960s. She accepted small roles in big films like Mujhe Jeene Do and big roles in small budgeted stunt films like Boxer, Samson, Tarzan, and King Kong. In the 1960s, she starred in as many as 16 action films with freestyle wrestler Dara Singh and was labelled as a stunt film heroine. Dara Singh-Mumtaz pair had 10 of the 16 films as box office hits. Faulad, Veer Bhimsen, Samson, Hercules, Tarzan Comes to Delhi, Sikandar E Azam, Rustom-E-Hind, Raaka, Boxer, Daku Mangal Singh were her successful films with Dara Singh.In the films that the pair Dara Singh-Mumtaz did together, Dara's remuneration was 4.5 lakh per film and Mumtaz's salary was 2.5 lakh per film.[2]

She first gained attention in a supporting role as a vamp in the A grade colour hit film Mere Sanam (1965). The memorable sexy song "Yeh Hai Reshmi Zulphon Ka Andhera" was picturized on her. The success of the film led to another sizzling song "Aye dushman jaan" in another big-budget film Patthar Ke Sanam. Finally, she gained major attention when she played one of Dilip Kumar's leading ladies in Ram Aur Shyam (1967). The film became one of the top hits of the year, and she received her first Filmfare nomination as Best Supporting Actress. Suddenly, Mumtaz was flooded with offers but not for major leading lady roles. She supported Sharmila Tagore in several films in the late 1960s, such as for Saawan Ki Ghata, Yeh Raat Phir Na Aayegi, and Mere Humdum Mere Dost. She had a memorable song and dance number "Aaj Kal Tere Mere" with her co-star Shammi Kapoor in the hit film Brahmachari (1968).

It took Raj Khosla's blockbuster Do Raaste (1969) starring Rajesh Khanna to finally make Mumtaz a full-fledged star. Oddly, it was an inconsequential girlfriend role, but director Khosla, so good at picturizing songs, filmed four hit songs on Mumtaz.[3] The film made her hugely popular, and she acknowledged that, even though she had a small role, it was still one of her favorite films.[1] In 1969, her film Do Raaste and Bandhan with Rajesh Khanna became top grossers of the year earning around 6.5 crores and 2.8 Crores respectively.[4] When earlier, she had played a small role as Rajendra Kumar's sister in Gehra Daag, now she was elevated to playing his leading lady in Tangewala. Shashi Kapoor who had earlier refused to work with her in Saccha Jootha because she was a "stunt film heroine" now wanted her to be his heroine in Chor Machaye Shor.

Mumtaz acted in 108 films in a career that spanned just 12 years till 1974. She won the Filmfare Best Actress Award for one of her favorite films Khilona in 1970, and she was "very happy that the audience accepted her in an emotional role."[1] Mumtaz acted with Dharmendra, Feroz Khan, Sanjeev Kumar and Biswajeet but her pairing opposite Rajesh Khanna was the most popular with the audience and critics alike. Mumtaz had 8 superhits opposite Rajesh Khanna as the solo lead hero in the period 1969-1975.[5][6][7] Her own other favorite films from her career are Tere Mere Sapne for director Vijay Anand, as well as Roop Tera Mastana, Aap Ki Kasam, Prem Kahaniand Aaina. She did almost as much as Sharmila Tagore did films with Rajesh Khanna to begin with "Do Raaste" ('69) followed by "Bandhan" the same year. "Sachcha Jhoota" ('70) "Dushman" ('71) "Apna Desh" ('72) "Apki Kasam" ('73)"Roti" ('74) "Prem Kahani" ('75) and finally "Aina" ('77) in which Rajesh Khanna played a small role. Most of her films with Rajesh Khanna were super hit. She successfully paired with Dharmendra with Films like "Loafer" and "Jheel ke us paar" ('73) Before these two films together theywetre seen in films like "Kaajal" ('65) "Chandan ka Palna" ('67) "Mere humdum mere dost" ('68)and "Aadmi aur insaan" before. Mumtaz did more than half a dozen films with Jeetendra. Jeetendra was introduced by V. Shantaram in "Boond jo ban gai moti" ('67) with Mumtaz. Later Mumtaz paired with Jeetendra in "Jigri Dost" ('69) "Khilona", Jeetendra in a special appearance ('70) "Humjoli", Mumtaz in guest appearance ('70) "Himmat" ('70) "Kathputli" ('71) "Ek naari ek Brahmchari" ('71) and "Roop tera mastana" ('72). Mumtaz did a good amount of films with Feroz Khan to begin with "Aag" ('67) "Aadmi aur insaan" ('69) "Upaasna" ('71) "Mela" ('71) "Apradh" ('72) "Dhadkan" ('72) and finally her last film before marriage "Nagin" ('76). But Mumtaz did maximum films with Dara Singh with total 16 films, 10 of them were hit.

Mumtaz decided to marry millionaire Mayur Madhwani, and at that time shooting for three films Aap ki Kasam, Roti and Prem Kahani with Rajesh Khanna was yet to begin. She decided to complete these three films and complete her other pending projects of that time Lafange, Nagin and then leave the industry permanently in 1974. She returned for one final appearance 12 years later in the 1989 film Aandhiyan, which flopped in India and became silver jubilee hit in Pakistan. After that she turned down all other film offers.

In 1996, she received the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award. In June 2008, she was honoured for her "Achievements in Indian Cinema" by the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) in Bangkok.

Mumtaz has featured recently in UniGlobe Entertainment's cancer docudrama 1 a Minute with a number of international stars.

[edit]Personal life

Mumtaz married Mayur Madhvani on 29 May 1974. They have two daughters, Natasha and Tanya. Natasha, the elder daughter, married the actor Fardeen Khan, son of Feroz Khan, in December 2005. Her sister Mallika is married to Randhawa, younger brother of Dara Singh.